Nursing Students Comradeship

I am now finishing off the first semester of my first year as a nursing student. It has been exciting, stressful, and at the utmost a rewarding experience. I have learned many new basic nursing skills that have given me the confidence to enter into January clinical with a little less apprehension. The greatest opportunity I have had thus far is the chance to meet a lot of great people who have helped make this first semester an easier transition and my time more enjoyable. We have experienced all the ups and downs together and experienced the stress and hardships that come with being a first year nursing student. This has bonded us together and created a comradeship that hopefully will last us over the next four years and into our nursing careers. These connections are the very root of what helps a nursing student pass successfully through four hard years of stressful and many times emotional work. The ability to have someone there who knows what you are going through and who you can vent to or just simply laugh with when things just seem to hard is what keeps us going. I am grateful to have met so many caring and compassionate people. Maybe it is because this line of work draws a certain type of person in or maybe its the kind of work we do that connects us, but I find the friendships formed between nursing students is different from other programs I have experienced. I look forward to walking down the halls of the hospital in January with the support and comradeship of my fellow nursing students.

Therapeutic Touch in Nursing

Throughout my first semester of nursing I have been exposed to a multi-disciplinary approach to the care I can offer my patients. An alternative practice that really stood out to me was the use of therapeutic touch. Therapeutic touch uses touch and massage to help in relaxation and healing of the patient. I think massage can be a beneficial tool when used in conjunction with mainstream medicine to achieve optimal overall well being for the patient. I also think that therapeutic touch allows for the nurse and patient to build a stronger therapeutic relationship which is essential in good nursing care. It creates a more open channel between nurse and client. A client must drop their guard and be comfortable enough to allow a nurse to practice therapeutic touch. I think it also allows for a deeper connection because when the patient is relaxed and comforted by the nurses touch they become more comfortable with the nurse. Therapeutic touch or massage has the ability to make a person more physically comfortable but it can also help a person to feel emotionally more at ease. Massaging can help a person to destress which can help the mind relax as well as the body.